68 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 23, 1899. 
To show how much variety, all of a like character 
and in keeping too, can be placed in small beds, one 
needs only note the following:—Aralia Sieboldi, 
Dracaena congesta, D. marginata, Abutilon Thomp- 
soni, Sanseviera javanica or zelanica, various forms 
of Coleuses, Liliago variegatum, Acacia lophantha 
and other things, the whole being banked up with 
tall plants of Monstera deliciosa and edged with 
thedwarf but useful Mesembryanthemumcordifolium 
variegatum, Brugmansias in flower, and specimen 
bushes of the light blue Plumbago capensis just com¬ 
ing into bloom, together with Fuchsias, Stocks (very 
fragrant), Petunias, dark Iresines, and an edge of 
the golden tricolor bedding Pelargonium Harry 
Hiover, filled a large reniform-shaped corner bed. 
The variegated Maize when well grown, makes a 
splendid bed even when massed by itself. Such a 
bed may be seen at Battersea, edged with Brighton 
Gem Pelargonium, a ring of blue Lobelia and 
another of Coprosma baueriana variegata, a dwarf 
procumbent plant resembling in foliage the golden 
Euony mus. A display for the later months had not been 
overlooked,for though in early August the bed of Salvia 
splendens grandiflora below standard Acer Negundo 
variegatum had little to recommend it then, any 
visitor seeing it during September will certainly 
regard the scarlet mass below the green and white, 
as a very striking and brilliant union. The edge was 
arranged with Petunias innermost, then a line of 
pink Pelargonium, blue Lobelia and the Pyrethrum 
Golden Feather outermost. 
There are some splendid bushes of the Golden 
Privet between the beds and are of course used for 
varying the effect. Splendid samples of Crozy’s 
large flowering Cannas gave much refined richness 
around their particular part. This bed was indeed 
one of the most brilliant and charming in the 
park. Beds of varieties of Cannas in unison of 
colour are at all times beautiful and might surely 
be made more of. How about the Canna as a 
market plant ? The spikes would take well on any 
market and need not be dear. 
Neighbouring the bed of Cannas are two pretty 
little samples of carpet bedding. Diagonals and 
semi diagonals form the inner plan and these are 
raised. Such plants as Lantana hybrida, Alter- 
nanthera amoena, A. magnifica and other varieties 
of this plant are freely used. Sempervivum grandi- 
florum, Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, 
while Saxifragas of various kinds, Yucca aloeifolia 
variegata, Echeverias, and an edging of Fuchsia 
meteor compose the pattern. Succulent beds are 
also to be seen. These have a good central plant 
of one sort or another, a Yucca or some succulent. 
Then the Echeverias are of course much used, some 
varieties being placed in lines, others are used as dot 
plants. 
Gasterias, Kleinias, Agaves and Aloes are very 
much in evidence, while carpeting is got from Hern- 
iaria, Antennaria tomentosa and Sedums. Bananas 
are used as standard plants towards the backs of the 
flower bed area on the west side. 
A typical sub-tropical bed was seen in the one 
where Tradescantia tricolor is used throughout; 
Emperor William Lobelia, Gnaphalium lanatum and 
Fuchsia meteor are used in lines for an edging. 
Then sheets of Selaginella kraussiana, and Chloro- 
phytum elatum variegatum, spread between the 
specimen Asplenium bulbiferum, Acalypha tricolor, 
good bushy plants of Coleus, Cordyline indivisa and 
plants of this sort. Another bed chiefly contained 
plantsof Pandanus Veitchii, Anthericum cordifolium. 
Begonias and edge lines of Pyrethrum Golden 
Feather, Kleinias and Alternanthera. These beds 
are certainly well designed, and throughout the 
whole of the park the perfect keeping and minute 
attention which all parts receive is a standing testi¬ 
monial to Mr. F. J. Coppin, who superintends 
Battersea Park. 
--» 5 ~-— 
LILIUM TIGRINUM SPLENDENS. 
The common Tiger Lily with its reflexed orange-red 
petals and numerous sprinkling of black spots is one 
of the most beautiful and best lasting flowers we 
have in bloom at this time. L. t. splendens is bolder 
and better than the specific form. The flower 
spikes, too, are more lengthy, which certainly is a 
merit. None of the varieties get much, or at all, 
over 3 ft., at which height they are very handsome 
and serviceable. Although the forms of L. tigrinum 
are very hardy and can be got to succeed anywhere, 
yet it will be found best to give them a rich soil with 
enough moisture in summer. 
tii flower mmm . 
Transplanting Evergreens. — This is the best 
season of all the four for transplanting evergreen 
shrubs. Under due precautions even very large 
shrubs can be quite safely transplanted. There will 
be cords required for tying down, or together, the 
branches, and a carriage for the conveying of plants 
will be required. Delicate barrows or carts are not 
safe for such work, and even if they do not altogether 
break down they are generally very much racked. 
Then a neat little pick, and a good spade and fork 
will be required for lifting operations. It is very 
desirable that the trees or shrubs to be shifted, if 
they be advanced at all, should have had a trench 
cut around them the year previously. This, of 
course, is well known to be beneficial so far that it 
promotes the growth of fibrous roots, and helps to 
save the trees from suffering from a check. 
Where the bushes are not very large the use of 
strong bast-mats will be found the only thing needed 
to shift the plants and preserve a good ball of root and 
soil. This should also be borne in mind, that hardly 
any kind of tree, evergreen or deciduous, does at all 
well if its depth for rooting has been much 
altered. If a tree has been doing well at a certain 
depth, it is wise just to plant it at the exact same 
depth in its new site, or perhaps a little bit higher 
or lower according to the difference which may be in 
the new soil. It is a fallacy, however, to think that 
plants will not grow or thrive if their position of 
growth has been altered. I meaD, if a tree has been 
growing nearly all to the south, and in the new site 
the back, or part that had formerly grown at the 
north side, is turned round about so as to get the 
most light, well, the tree does resent it somewhat 
for a while, but it soon rights itself if the planting 
has been done well. 
By transplanting at this period they have time, 
during the warm, moist autumnal months, to make 
fresh young roots. 
Propagation of evergreens may have been done, 
but the operation is still in good time. Such kinds 
as Acubas, Hollies, Privets, Portugal Laurels, 
Lauristinus, Phillyreas, and various Conifers will 
strike quite freely in any warm border. They can 
be planted rather thickly in lines half a foot apart. 
In their preparation as cuttings very little trimming 
is required, but it should be done very cleanly. 
Other Work, for the moment, will be the propa¬ 
gating of all bedding plants, the trimming of hedges, 
and keeping all the ground clean and tidy.— 
J. H. D. 
—- . 1 . - 
THE HISTORY OF THE DAHLIA. 
The ferreting out of information bearing on the 
early introduction and previous knowledge of the 
Dahlia, going back some hundreds of years, was a task 
of no slight proportiors. But in the hands of such 
an able and gifted enthusiast as the late Shirley 
Hibberd, the result as left by him in the Vol. xiii. of 
the Royal Horticultural Society's transactions, 
reads like an extract from some beautiful story 
which has been filtered in a scholar’s mind whereby 
only the clearest and most brilliant points were 
retained. Guided by this essay, we find that the 
first description of the Dahlia occurs in Francisco 
Hernandez's treatise on "The Plants and Animals 
of New Spain,” published at Madrid in the year 1615. 
No more is heard of the plant for 130 years. 
Then it turns up in 1787 in connection with an 
interesting event. Nicholas Joseph Thierry de 
Menonville, was sent to America by the French 
Government of Louis XVI., to obtain a species of 
cochineal insect, and also to fetch the plant it sub¬ 
sisted upon The expedition was successful; the 
cochineal was secured and in 1787 Menonville 
published an account of it and added particulars 
of what he had seen and heard. 
One of his items of interest is a description of a 
garden at Guaxaca where plants were seen with 
handsome flowers like Asters on stems a few feet 
high, and leaves like those of an Elder tree. 
It is evident he had seen the single Dahlias which 
the florists in Mexico were at that time growing. 
The writings of Hernandez, Menonville and others, 
aroused public curiosity among the botanists and 
growers in Europe. Very soon seeds were sent to 
Spain, a country at that time holding large power 
and possessions in Mexico. Then of course our 
own aristocracy became acquainted with the novelty, 
and Lady Bute’s name is known in connection 
with its introduction here. But within two years of 
its being brought over it perished. The reason lay 
in the fact that at that time anything " foreign ” in 
the plant world was, upon its arrival in English 
gardens, coddled up in heated houses. Thus the 
Dahlia was suffocated and lost. By-and-by, how¬ 
ever, better knowledge of ils needs were instilled into 
men’s minds, and from trials a nurseryman, at Sloan 
Square in south-west London, named Jchn Fraser, 
flowered D. coccinea in 1804. From these flowers 
the first plate published in England was obtained. 
Thirteen years before this, Abbe Cavanilles, the 
author of the genus, which he dedicated to the 
Swedish botanist (Andre Dahl), whose name is com¬ 
memorated in the flower (and the proper pronuncia¬ 
tion of Dahlia is Dawlia). At this time there were 
two species of Dahlia known and described, D. 
pinnatus, and D. coccinea. The first of these 
became the Dahlia of the garden, and from the 
variability belonging to it, the name of D. variabilis 
is also given to it. The name Dahlia was for a 
while overriden by that of Georgina, which a Ger¬ 
man professor, under misapprehension, had applied 
to it. 
Cavanilles, already mentioned, was the first to be 
so successful in his culture as to obtain double 
flowers. The name Georgina was even used so late 
as 1832 in “ Loudon’s Gardeners’ Magazine,” but 
no further mention is on record. Every cultivator 
on the Continent was at this time doing his best to 
secure double forms among his Dahlias. Very soon 
the doubles were numerous and constant, thanks 
chiefly to M. Donkelaar, of the Botanic Garden, 
Louvain. The incoming of the Dahlia coincides 
with the first French revolution, and the establish¬ 
ment of double flowers with the prelude to the 
Battle of Waterloo. 
Then from 1820 till 1850 the Dahlia steadily 
improved in every desirable quality ; but imme¬ 
diately after 1850 there was a slight lack of favour 
for this flower, although the improvement continued. 
The National Dahlia Society at its foundation in 
1870 gave a further impetus to all classes of the 
Dahlia.” Since then the advance of new characters 
and distinct colours has steadily accumulated. 
Fickle fashion has for a while demanded one thing, 
only to change her mind for something different with 
the advent of a new season. The large show and 
fancy Dahlia had an army of supporters and 
admirers five or six years ago. But these have 
melted and dwindled most perceptibly. The single 
Dahlias had also a stronger hold at one time than at 
the immediate present. The Cactus types are really 
the prime favourites, and this since the advent of 
the perfected, revolute and twisted petals, and the 
brilliancy of colouring, plus, of course, other 
qualities. But the whole genus Dahlia is a grand 
one, spare it complete; deduct not a single form from 
the many variations it assumes for the decoration of 
the garden in autumn.— G. R. D. 
Tfie QrclUd Brower’s Galentlar. 
Light.— Everyone knows the value of light in the 
culture of all sorts of plants. At the same time we 
have to break the sun's rays in the case of some plants 
when grown under glass. Especially is this the 
case with cool house Orchids, &c., for though they 
undoubtedly at times get more light and air than it is 
possible with safety to afford them here, on account 
of the glass in between, we must as far as we can 
try to imitate Nature. 
Hitherto we have found one thickness of ordinary 
cotton shading sufficient, but this has been such an 
exceptional summer that we have to put some 
whitening on the glass as well, more to keep the 
temperature down than anything else, and this we 
are now having washed off, and the glass made as 
clean and clear as we can. 
Odontoglossums do more, we think, during this 
month and next as regards growth, &c., than any 
other three put togetner, and, as often pointed out, 
they must have the best possible attention. Do not 
wait until they get out of sorts before touching 
them ; do the necessary potting when they are in 
good condition, and you can count on keeping them 
in a good way. 
Raising Odontoglossum Seedlings. —After a 
few successes—for we have about thirty—and many 
failures to get them to germinate we think at last we 
